RE30B#16 I checked the date on your post and it was the 2nd, so I'll take it seriously. I've bitten my tongue so often on this incident that I'll need a blood transfusion soon so its time to respond.
RE30B#16 wrote:If memory serves me, He was leading and Damon was 2nd. Damon needed to finish 3rd to take the championship. .
So far you?ve got it right
RE30B#16 wrote:Then disaster struck. Michael overcooked it going into the chicane before the pit straight.
Yes Michael overcooked it, but not at the chicane before pit straight, which doesn?t exist. He went off at East Terrace Corner, a fairly tight 90degree left hander 5 turns after pit straight.
RE30B#16 wrote:He hit the outside wall, and his race was effectively over which would've meant Hill wins.
Michael hit the wall almost perfectly side on and almost 'bounced' off it, without any apparent damage, and immediately recovered onto the track, there is no evidence that his race was over.
RE30B#16 wrote: He coasted until Damon entered the blind chicane
This "blind chicane" is in thes ame place as the one you previously mentioned, i.e. nowhere. Your facts are so wrong I wonder if we are talking about the same incident.
Damon Hill did not see Michael go off but was close enough that he came around East Terrace corner just as Michael was recovering onto the track. Michael was never at any stage coasting.
The corner after East Terrace is Flinders St, between the two is a short straight. The V8?s don?t change gear on this straight, maybe the F1?s did, I don?t know, but the point is its very short. Damon, seeing Michael recovering onto the inside of the track going into Flinders Street corner, assumes that Michael is going to try an protect the inside. So Damon heads for the outside.
Michael, the racing genius that he is, outthinks Damon and also moves to the outside, in a direct line from his recovery point, no swerving involved. Damon finds Michael in front of him and briefly locks up his brakes avoiding running into the back of him.
Now I would like everyone to take a big deep breath and consider the following. They are both now
in the braking zone for Flinders Street corner, a fairly tight 90 degree right hander. They are both
on the racing line, Damon is
directly behind Michael and travelling
at the same speed after Damon?s lockup. I put it to you that it is
impossible to make an acceptable pass from this position.
RE30B#16 wrote: whereupon he purposely and unnecessarily drove into the center of the track unexpectedly causing Damon to hit him.
We are always told that Michael turned in on Damon. This is completely incorrect, he was turning because he was
going round a corner, at no point did Michael deviate 1mm from the racing line.
Damon, frustrated at missing the opportunity to get past, makes a ludicrous lunge down the inside. There was no way he was going to make the corner. Maybe Michael should have yielded and let Damon go straight into the tyre barriers. Instead Michael took his rightful racing line through the corner. Damon, completely locked up and ploughing straight ahead, goes into the side of Michael. Michaels right rear goes over Damon?s front left, Michael nearly lands on his head, and Damon?s front suspension is wrecked.
RE30B#16 wrote: I have this race on tape,
Are you sure, because most of what you say is completely wrong.
RE30B#16 wrote:and it makes me angry everytime I see it.
It makes me angry every time I hear the misinformation that surrounds this incident. We always hear about how stoic Damon and Sir Frank didn?t comment after the incident. You know why they didn?t comment? Because they knew the incident was Damon?s fault, and to say any different would be lying. Instead they have a couple of digs at Michaels character and everybody else who are already predisposed against Michael buys the line that Michael tried to drive Damon off the road, time and time again we hear it from all the Michael-haters on this forum, when in fact it was the other way around.
Jerez ?97 , now that was a different story, and maybe Michael deserves his flawed reputation on the basis of that incident, but if he does, then Senna should be cast in the same light.
Cheers, Redhead
